GNOME2[1] is a popular desktop environment that provides many built-in utilities. Figure 6.1a shows a screenshot of GNOME2 on a PC-BSD® 9.1 system with the "Applications" menu open.

NOTE: GNOME3 has not yet been ported to FreeBSD. Once it has, it may be added as a desktop component in the PC-BSD® installer.

Figure 6.1a: GNOME2 Desktop on a PC-BSD® System

Each category in the "Applications" menu contains many applications and the "Settings" and "System" categories contain many utilities for configuring your system. If you are new to GNOME2, take some time to discover which applications best suit your needs. Some of the applications which are provided by GNOME include:

Some games, such as Gnibbels, Lights Off, Quadrapassel, and Swell Foop, require 3D acceleration. If your video driver does not support this, you will not be able to launch those games.

You may or may not have installed all of GNOME's components during installation. You can view the installed components and check (to add) or uncheck (to delete) various components using Control Panel ➜ Package Manager ➜ Desktops ➜ GNOME.